Published on: October 28, 2025, 01:52h.
Updated on: October 28, 2025, 01:56h.
This Tuesday, the NBA revealed that the semifinals and championship for the upcoming Emirates NBA Cup will take place on December 13 and 16 at T-Mobile Arena. (Tickets can be purchased at NBAEvents.com/cup.) However, this year’s return to Las Vegas is overshadowed by the consequences stemming from a significant federal investigation into unlawful wagering involving NBA staff and organized crime, with Las Vegas serving as a primary operational center.
Fragile Foundations
On October 23, shortly after the regular season commenced, the FBI apprehended 34 individuals across 11 states. Among those detained were Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and ex-NBA player Damon Jones, both accused of participating in a Las Vegas poker cheating operation connected to four New York mafia families: Bonanno, Gambino, Lucchese, and Genovese.
Legal documents outline illicit games held in opulent suites and private residences at high-end venues like the Wynn, Bellagio, and Cosmopolitan, where victims reportedly lost over $7.15 million since 2019. Prosecutors allege that Billups and Jones acted as “decoys” to entice affluent players into games using sophisticated shufflers that transmitted card data to accomplices through devices such as earpieces and X-ray tables.
Loan sharks reportedly collected debts—sometimes aggressively—and even stole a prototype shuffler from a Las Vegas hotel parking lot. Jones, arrested at an undisclosed Strip casino, is accused of laundering gambling winnings through cryptocurrency and front companies.
Unethical Insights
In a separate betting scandal involving the NBA, Jones, along with Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and four others, faces charges of wire fraud and money laundering. They are accused of leaking confidential information, such as injury updates and roster changes, to betting syndicates.
A significant event occurred during a game on March 23, 2023, when Rozier’s Charlotte Hornets faced the New Orleans Pelicans. Prosecutors claim Rozier informed associates about his planned early departure due to a fabricated injury, resulting in over $200,000 in bets placed against his performance metrics.
Rozier played only nine minutes, scoring five points and securing four rebounds before exiting with two assists. The ensuing bets allegedly generated significant profits, which were reportedly delivered to his residence in Florida.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver described both scandals as “extremely concerning” and pledged full support of the ongoing investigations.
Intensifying the Action
The NBA recently announced via a press release that this year’s Emirates Cup will kick off with group stages running from October 31 to November 28, where all 30 teams will face off in four games on set “cup nights.” Eight teams—six group victors and one wildcard from each conference—will proceed to “knockout rounds,” consisting of single-elimination matchups in the quarterfinals (December 9-10 in NBA cities), semifinals, and the championship.
While the league’s choice to host its flagship event in Las Vegas was arranged since July 2025, moving forward amid these controversies appears tone-deaf.
The NBA’s lucrative $76 billion, 11-year media deals are significantly reliant on integration with sportsbooks, especially following the US Supreme Court’s decision to lift a long-standing federal ban on sports betting in 2018.